Joseph g



(No Model.)

J. G. GEOFF.

' SAW GUARD. No. 311,486. Patented Feb. 3, 1885.

WITNESSES M IIVVEIVTO/ f 646. .m a W W 0 @ZWML ZZMMM A 4 Allarneyo TAES rant much.

JOSEPH G. GEOFF, OF CONN ERSVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB TO THE GEOFF &

BENNETT SAW GUARD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SAW-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,486, dated February 3, 1885.

Application filed August 4, 1854. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPrr G. Gnorr, of Connersville, in the county of Fayette and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Saw-Guards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference' being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to that class of sawguards in which the guard or hood proper is pivoted to and rendered vertically adjustable upon a suitable blade or standard, and in which the hood is caused to rise upon the advance of the material to be sawed, rest upon such material while being sawed, and gravitate back to its normal position after the material has passed from under it.

I will first describe my improved saw-guard, and will then point out its particular features of novelty in the claims at the end of this specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the improved guard, a portion of one of the sides of the guard or hood proper being shown broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bed-plate which receives and holds the upright blade. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the upright blade, showing the projections for engaging with the corresponding recesses in the side of the bed-plate. Fig. 4 is aview of the key or stop by means of which the normal height of the guard is regulated. Fig. 5 is aview of an automatically-acting spring bolt or catch for locking the blade to the bed-plate. Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of spring-bolt; and Figs. 7 and 8, respectively, a top view and a side View of a form of bolt which is automatic in its operation. Fig. 9 is a View of a modified form of vertical blade which may be used in connection with the bed-plate when the guard is used in connection with a large saw.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate like parts.

The letter A indicates the body or frame of the guard or hood proper, to which are at The front of the guard-frame is provided with curve, as shown, though the effect is substantached the side pieces in the ordinary manner.

the usual upwardly-inclined arm or projection, C, while from the rear of said frame proj ect arms D D, on opposite sides of the vertical plate F, in the usual manner. A roller, O, is mounted between the arms D at the point D, and is arranged to travel up and down in a, vertical slot, S, in the blade F, a groove being formed in the periphery of the roller to receive the edges of the blade bor- 6o dering the said slot S. Another roller, 0", is mounted in extensions P of the arms D, and

it is also grooved to accommodate the rear edge of the blade F. These two grooved rollers O O serve to evenly guide the hood in its up and down movements, and also serve at all times to keep the hood steady and prevent its lateral movement when in operation. The vertical blade F is provided with a series of vertical slots or openings, a, in which is ad'apted to fit a key or stop, T. (Shown in Fig. 4.) This key is provided with slotted projections t t, and with a handle or grasping part, t.

In applying the key to the blade, its slotted projections it are entered in any two adjoin- 7 ing slots or openings a in the blade, and pressed forward until the slots t come opposite the edges of the slots a a, when it is pressed downward, so as to cause it'to be locked to the blade in such position as to leave a bearingsurface, t, on each side of the blade for the upper portion of the opposite arms, D D, to rest upon, as shown in Fig. 1. WVhere the upper portions of the arms D rest upon the pin or key, they are provided with a shallow slot or recess, Q, as shown in Fig. l. A cord, 6, having one end secured in a hole, 11 in the upper part of the blade and the other end secured in a hole, I), in the key, prevents the latter from becoming lost, though it does not interfere with its adjustment in the slots at of the blade. The adjustment of the key or stop in any particular pair of openings a regulates the normal height of the guard -or hood a above the saw-table. The lower edges, V'W, of the guard or hood proper, instead of forming an obtuse angle, as in some of my former patents-No. 291,187, for instanceis in this case preferably made in the form ofan elliptical I00 tially the same in both cases. Upon the advance of a board to be sawed it first strikes the sary limited sliding motion of the said arms upon the key or stop T further advancing, the

forward end of the board strikes the curved lower edge of the hood at V, and raises the rear of the hood, the grooved roller 0 traveling up the slot S in the blade, and the grooved roller 0 traveling up the rear edge of the blade, thus reducing the friction to a minimum and rendering the adjustment of the guard upon the board smooth and easy. As the board passes along,the hood rides upon it and keeps the saw covered, and the blade F enters the kerf cut by the saw. As the board passes from under the guard, the latter settles back to its normal position upon or near to the saw-table, its forward end descending first and afterwardits rear end. The length of the slots or recesses Q in the arms D determines the height to which the forward end of the hood can be raised without raising its rear end, and as soon as the limit of 'the sliding movement of the arms upon the key T is reached the rear end of the guard begins to rise. i

In connecting the lower end of the blade F to the bed-plate on the saw-table, I depart somewhat from the plan followed by me in my former patents.

In the present instance, instead of inserting the end of the blade into an inclosingsocket, as formerly, I now connect to one side only of the bed-plate by means of tongues and grooves or equivalent connections. This is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The socket R has its upper face smooth and substantially flush with the top of the saw-table, and screws are preferably passed down through it so as to secure it to the table. The depending portion R of the socket is provided on its outer side with two sets of dovetailed grooves or recesses, h and i, the former being arranged in one vertical plane, and the latter in another and different vertical plane, while the proximate side of. the lower end of the blade F is provided with two series of dovetail projections, h t", which correspond to and are adapted to fit within the corresponding re cesses on the bed-plate.

The object of forming the bed-plate with two sets of recesses in different planes is to enable the same bed-plate and guard or hood proper to be used in connection with different blades for protecting saws of different sizes. The center of the hood should always be placed over the center of the saw, no matter what the size of the latter may be. If the saw is of small size, a blade may be used such as shown in Fig. 3; but if the saw-blade is of very large size, then" a blade formed at the bottom as shown in Fig. 9 will have to be used, the space opposite the series of recesses '13 in the bed-plate being necessarily left vacant to accommodate the saw. The advan-' tage in employing this form of bed-plate is considerable, for while but little inconvenience arises from being required to change the vertical blade, the taking out of the bed-plate and the substitution of another one adapted to the size of saw required to be used is considerable.

Instead of the dovetailed projections being formed upon the blade and the recesses upon the bed-plate, a reverse arrangement of them may be made. So, too, the form of the recesses and projections may be varied, it only being essential that they efficiently lock into each other so as to hold the parts together. In setting the blade in position its projections are entered into the recesses of the bed-plate, and it is pushed down, as will be readily understood. The connection being strong and tight, no wabbling or lateral motion of the blade is permitted.

To guard against .any possible accidental vertical displacement of the blade after it has been connected to the bed-plate, I arrange within the bed-plate a suitable bolt, which is adapted to be projected laterally through an aperture, r, in the side of the bed-plate, and into a corresponding aperture in the blade. Various forms of bolts may be used. Where it is desired that the bolt shall be self-locking, an arrangement such as shown in Fig. 5 or Fig. 6 may be employed. In these instances the bolt is projected outward by either a spiral spring, as shown in Fig. 5, ora flat spring, as shown in Fig. 6, and a projection (lettered 3 in Fig. 5 and z in Fig. 6) is provided, by which the operator can retract or unlock the bolt. The outer extremity of the bolt in each of these cases is beveled, as shown, so that when the blade is slipped down into place it will strike the incline and automatically retract the bolt, the latter being forced out again by its spring when the opening in the blade comes opposite it, thus securely locking the parts together. In lieu of the automatic bolt, a bolt such as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 may be employed. This bolt, which is lettered u, is adapted to play back and forth within the bed-piece, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to be held either projected or retracted ,by means of a spring, a. let into its upper surface and bearing at all times with considerable friction against the upper side of the boltway.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new 1. The combination, with the hood proper having the forward-inclined projection, of the rearwardly-projecting arms having the recess Q, the vertical blade provided with the elongated slot S, and the series of openings a, and the key orstop T, whereby when the outer end of the hood is lifted the said key or stop serves as the pivotal point, while the recess permits a limited horizontal movement upon the stop till the forward shoulder of I said recess abuts against the key, when the further tilting motion ceases and the rear end of the hood begins to rise, guided by the slot and roller, all substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the hood having the rearwardly-extending arms, of the vertical blade having the series of openings a, and the key or stop T, having the slotted projections tt, the handle or grasping portion, and the bearings t t for the guard-arms, substantially as described.

3. In a saw guard, the hood-supporting blade having a series of locking projections on its side near its lower end, in combination with a socket or bed piece having on its side a series of recesses corresponding to the projections on the blade, and into which said projections are adapted to fit and look when the blade is placed in working position, substantially as described.

4. In a saw guard, the hood -supporting blade thereof having a series of locking projections on its side near its lower end, in combination with the socket or bed plate having upon its side two series of recesses located in different vertical planes and adapted to receive the corresponding projections on the blade, substantially as described.

5. In the herein-described saw-guard, the combination, with the bed-piece having the recesses on its side, of the vertical blade having the corresponding projections and a bolt 0 

